Italy coach Luciano Spalletti went on a rant in his press conference bemoaning players who ‘stay up late at night using PlayStation’ on international duty. ‘Some stayed up before the Ukraine match.’
The Azzurri gathered at the Coverciano training ground today ahead of a trip to the United States, where they will play friendly matches against Venezuela on Thursday and Ecuador on Sunday.
At the end of the press conference, Spalletti asked the journalists a question instead.
“Is that it? You don’t care about the PlayStation? Even television programmes were made on it, including ex-players. Do you consider it right that professionals wearing the Italy jersey do not sleep the night before to play video games and then do not give their best on the field?
“You can evaluate the level of a player not just by the two hours he spends on the pitch, but the 22 hours a day off it too. I don’t care what the players do, as long as at a certain hour they try to get some sleep.
“A few players stayed up the night before the Ukraine match and that is not good in my view.”
Spalletti announced he will find a way to clamp down on players spending too much time with consoles at the Euro 2024 training camp.
“We will set up a games room that everyone can use, because it is important to fill time and stay together. However, at 12.30am, everyone goes back to their rooms and get some sleep.
“I don’t like it when things become an addiction. It must not affect your profession. Anyone who wants to waste time should not come on international duty, it’s not like they are under contract with us.”